The great garden renovation: Boulders and Stairs

Day 8:

The rocks are here! Ok correct that, the boulders are here. They did not look this big at the landscape store….. They require two people to carry them, through the house, into the back yard. They are massive. Getting the boulders and unloading the truck is a full day of work. Some of the rocks will have to remain in the front for tomorrow, and maybe longer given the space limitations. Phew! Ouch! time to call it a day. Now my family is a bit tired with my gardening project….. oops!

Day 9

I need to layout the position for the stairs so we can lay those rocks. Then we can start building the wall around them. I also need to layout the position of the lower wall and lay the foundation of drain rock. Hmm. Not as exciting in terms of progress. There are some random boards indication the position of the stairs and a string for the wall. Ok tomorrow will be more exciting….

Day 10

Stairs! Today is a good day! Those boards are now a rock staircase curving around the side to the upper level of the garden. The waterfall and pond will be in the curvature of the wall and stairs. Noah and the cat are both excited to try the stairs.

The rest of the week is spent digging and laying the foundation rock for the lower wall, and digging the area for the waterfall and upper pool. Under the waterfall and pond I need to put some fine sand. Rather than buying more soil, as we have an abundance, I use the sand that was in the home made sandbags. Since it is now all in the garden or the big piles of soil (I didn’t originally plan to use it), I have to sift the rocks and other debris out. The same for the drain rock. We have some, but it is a bit mixed now and requires some sorting. I prefer to reuse as much materials as I can, both so I don’t have to carry extra back through the house, but also it is more environmentally friendly.

Next week I should be able to start laying the rock for the waterfall and lower wall.